Display cabinet



March 26, 1957 s. MALKlN DISPLAY CABINET 3 Smggls-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 29, 1954 INVENTOR.

MALKIN BY W M firmew SIMON March 26, 1957 s. MALKIN 2,786,728

' DISPLAY CABINET Filed Jan. 29, 1954 I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. I 1... .1 1 m- J SIMON MALKIN March 26, 1957 s. MALKIN DISPLAY CABINET Filed Jan. 29, 1954 3 Sheets-Spear. 3

INVENTOR. SIM N MALKIN United States Patent DISPLAY CABINET Simon Malkin, New York, N. Y., assignor to Malkin Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 29, 1954, Serial No. 407,012

1 Claim. (Cl. 312-129) This invention relates to display cabinets for displaying and demonstrating various types of fixed and movanot available. Furthermore, the cabinets usually have to be refilled when in position in the window from the rear of the cabinet without the benefit of a view from the normal viewing angle. 7

A principal object of the present invention is to provide adisplay cabinet with a removable closure at the rear so as to permit ready access to the merchandise insidethe cabinet, which closure serves as a rack unit for supporting various types of fixed and movable merchandise and the mechanism for actuating the movable articles.

Another object of the invention is to provide a display cabinet with a removable rack assembly which serves as a rear closure and which is adapted to be refilled and the goods arranged thereon either at the location of the cabinet or at the stock room while viewing the rack assembly from the normal front viewing angle available to the customer.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a store display carbinet with removable glass front and side closures in order to permit ready assembly and to provide safety in transportation and ready replacement in the event of breakage.

It is further proposed to provide a display cabinet which is simple and durable in construction and which can be manufactured and sold at a reasonable cost.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claim in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a display cabinet embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view thereof showing the rear enclosure in locked position, parts being shown broken away and parts being shown in section.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 with the rear enclosure in partly removed position.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the rear enclosure removed from the cabinet.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged front elevational view, parts being broken away for the sake of clearness.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on the plane of the line 6--6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a rear elevational view thereof.

2,786,728 Patented Mar. 26, 1957 "ice Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on the plane of the line 8--8 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the display cabinet shown in Fig. 1 is hollow and comprises a base 10, upright solid side walls 11, with sloping front ends 12, and a top wall 13. The base and walls may be made of wood, metal, pastic or any other suitable material. The top wall is formed with a slanting slot 14 cut therethrough along its front edge and extending substantially the length thereof. The base, is formed with a slanting groove 15 along its front edge, extending substantially the length thereof. The front sloping ends 12 of the side walls are formed with grooves 16 which communicate with slots 17 cut through the top wall, along the ends thereof, and with grooves 18 cut in the base along its ends adjacent the front. A glass panel 19 extends through the slot 14 in the top wall and closes the front of the cabinet with its bottom edge seated in the groove 15 in the base and with its top end 20 protruding above the top Wall in order to facilitate handling. The panel may be readily inserted and readily removed as desired. Glass panels 21 are inserted through the slots 17 in the ends of the top wall and into the grooves 16 in the side walls 11 with their bottom end edges seated in the grooves 18 in the base and with their top ends 22 protruding above the top wall to facilitate handing.

A pair of opposed wooden shelves 23 are secured to the inner surface of the side walls 11 by gluing or in any other suitable manner. The shelves extend inwardly toward the middle of the cabinet. Another pair of opposed shelves 24 are similarly mounted on the side walls below the shelves 23, the upper shelves being somewhat narrower than thelower shelves.

- The rear of the cabinet is closed by a rack assembly 25 shown in detail in Fig. 4. The rack assembly may be made of sheet metal or any other suitable material and includes a rear wall 26 and an integral bottom wall 27.

A combined housing and platform unit 28 is fastened to the rear wall 26 centrally thereof. The unit includes a vertically disposed channel-shaped plate member 29 opening toward the rear wall with its edges in contact therewith. A housing, formed of a strap bent to provide a front wall 30 and side walls31 with integral flanges 32, is fastened to the rear wall by bolts 33 passing through openings in the flanges and rear wall. The strap surrounds the top end of the channel-shaped plate 29 and protrudes thereabove with its front wall extending outwardly of the plate. A flanged plate 34 is interposed between the plate 29 and the front wall of the strap, at the bottom of the strap, providing a floor for the housing. The flanged edges of the floor are welded or otherwise suitably fastened to the channel-shaped plate and front wall of the strap and with the outer flange continuing into an inwardly directed flange 35 in order to make the flanged plate more rigid. The floor extends only part way along the channel-plate and the strap leaving an opening 36 between each end of the floor and the adjacent side wall 31 of the strap.

At its bottom, the channel-shaped plate 29 extends forwardly and then downwardly into engagement with the bottom wall 27 to form a platform 37, having end walls 38. The platform extends forwardly of the upper housing. The unit is braced by side plates 39 having sloping front ends. Molding strips 40 may be provided to finish off the corner between the rear and bottom walls of the assembly. A supporting rail 41 may be suitably fastened to the inner surface of the rear wall 26 along its top end edge and extending substantially the length thereof.

The rack assembly is slid through the rear opening in the cabinet with the end edges of the bottom wall 27 riding in notches 42 formed in the inner surfaces of the bottom ends of the side walls 11. When completely closed, the upper rail 41- onthe rear wall 26 is positioned under the rear end edge of the top wall 13. An ordinary lock 43, actuated by a key 44, is carried by the rear wall 26and' the upper rail 41 is slottedas indicated at 45 to permit the sliding bolt 46 of the lock toslide into a keeper 47' on the under side of the top wall: 13 for locking the rear'vva'll in closed pesition.

The interior of the m binet maybe illuminated by an electric fluorescent tube 48 rernovably held by brackets 49 fastened to the ends of a rail 50 secured to the under side of the top wall 13 at its center. Electricity is supplied to the tubeti-om: a' -source of electromotive force by conductors 51 passing through an opening 52 in the rear wall 26 and along a groove 53 in the rear end edge of one of the side walls 11-01? the cabinet.

The front glass panel 19 may be frosted or made translucent just. below the top wall 13 as indicated at 54, and the side glass panels 21 may be similarly treated as indicated at 55 in. order to conceal the: tube 48 and the top of the housing.

In use, the bottom wall 27 of the rack assembly and the shelves 23 and 24 may' be used for supporting articles of me'ichandise, such,.for example, as. watches (not shown) or thelike, and the platform 37 may support, for example, a glass bowl (not shown) or the like at one end, in line with one of the openings 36 to the side of the floor 34, and may also support at its other end, for example, an anvil (not. shown) or the like in line with the other opening 36. The floor 34 of the housing may support, for example, an electric motor (not shown) for actuating mechanism for moving, for example, a watch,

. up and down into water in the bowl on the platform,

and for moving, for example, a watch up and down against the for demonstrating. the waterproof and shockproof qualities, respectively, of the watches.

The rack assembly may bev readily removed by merely opening the lock 43 by means of the key 44 and by withdrawing the same from the cabinet. When withdrawn, the motor and mechanism in the housing may be attended to, and the bottom wall 27 refilled with articles of merchandise. This refilling can take place while viewing the rackv assembly from the front which is the normal viewing angle of the customer. When the rack assembly is removed, access to the interior of the cabinet is afiorded for refilling the shelves 23 and 24 with articles of merchandise.

The glass panels 19 and 21 may be readily removed for cleaning same on both sides or for refilling the cabinet, or may be removed for transporting the cabinet Without the panels in order to minimize the chance of damaging the panels.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise construction herein disclosed and the right is reserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention as defined in the appe'nded claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

In a cabinet for displaying merchandise having a base, transparent front and side walls, a top wall, a rack device constituting the rear closure for said cabinet, said rack device including a. vertical wall closing the rear of the cabinet, a horizontal wall integral with the vertical wall 1 resting on. the base, a channel-shaped plate secured to the vertical wall centrally thereof, a U-shaped metal strap extending across theupper ends of said channel-shaped plate with its bight portion spaced inwardly from the channel-shaped plate and with its ends secured to the vertical wall, means: of connection between the upper end of said channel-shaped member and the U-shaped strap, the bottom end of said channel-shaped. member extending inwardly and downwardly constituting a platform bottomed on. the base.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Holmes June 13, 1944 V I e 

